Question on RAM configuration for PCS Staff

Fear

Prolific Poster
Hi, whoever from the PCS staff read this I was just wondering why when selecting ram for the Desktop builds that you have gone for a single stick of RAM (ie. 1x4GB 1x8GB) and there are no options for (2x2GB 2x4GB) because most of the MB's are Dual Channel so people are not getting the full benefits from the Dual Channel ?

Also was wondering if you can get hold of any DDR3 Triple HyperX kits for my MB P6X58D-E as I can not find them anywhere only single stick or kit of 2 as I was looking to see if I could upgrade from yourselves but when I checked on my account there are no options available for upgrading my RAM on my build.

Thanks in advance for reading this ( if you do that is :winkiss: Haha)

Fear
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
I can answer the first question.

It's quite simple really, although dual channel seems like it should be twice as good it's very rarely better at all. Even when it is better it is better by perhaps 1 or 2%. It was discussed in some depth on these forums before with pretty much all the real worth benchmarks saying dual channel was pretty much within the margin of error. Some synthetic tests did show huge performance gains but nobody ever provided any sources for any meaningful gains in real world tests. Obviously that was over a year ago and software may have improved its ability to cope with dual channel+ configs but I don't really see it being much of an issue in only providing a single stick of RAM and not dual stick kits.

I think that tells the story about why you cant find many kits of 3 modules for your board. Along with the fact its effectively old generation I doubt you will have much luck.
 

Glissov

Bronze Level Poster
I think dual channel ram boosts real world gains by 10-15%. Can try look for some articles if need be but this was my understanding.
I also think dual channel makes a big difference to integrated GPU, where the system uses some of the computer ram for video. Although this would affect discrete GPU system less, we still use it on laptops with nvidia optimus technology.
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
I can answer the first question.

It's quite simple really, although dual channel seems like it should be twice as good it's very rarely better at all. Even when it is better it is better by perhaps 1 or 2%. It was discussed in some depth on these forums before with pretty much all the real worth benchmarks saying dual channel was pretty much within the margin of error. Some synthetic tests did show huge performance gains but nobody ever provided any sources for any meaningful gains in real world tests. Obviously that was over a year ago and software may have improved its ability to cope with dual channel+ configs but I don't really see it being much of an issue in only providing a single stick of RAM and not dual stick kits.

I think that tells the story about why you cant find many kits of 3 modules for your board. Along with the fact its effectively old generation I doubt you will have much luck.

Yeah quite a few generations old now but still runs perfectly well for me, I have seen some triple kits around but they are Corsair and Gskill but I would rather stick with Kingston ah well will see what PCS say if not will just try my luck with 3 single sticks and hope they are all the same batch.
 

Spikes

Member
2 x 4GB sticks cost more than 1 x 8GB stick.
I called PCS to change mine and they told me so. Which means it's possible if you give them a call but you just have to pay an extra
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
2 x 4GB sticks cost more than 1 x 8GB stick.
I called PCS to change mine and they told me so. Which means it's possible if you give them a call but you just have to pay an extra

Yeah I know that it is slightly dearer it was just the fact of not making use of the dual channel I just found it a bit strange.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
I think dual channel ram boosts real world gains by 10-15%. Can try look for some articles if need be but this was my understanding.
I also think dual channel makes a big difference to integrated GPU, where the system uses some of the computer ram for video. Although this would affect discrete GPU system less, we still use it on laptops with nvidia optimus technology.

I just had a look for some recent articles and can confirm it still seems to have a minimal effect, 10-50% is significant but I can only find in the region of 5% in some video work, and even then its only some software that benefits.

Re the 2nd point, I would say faster RAM is more important that running it in dual channel mode but I have not seen the figures for APU's with single and dual channels tested.
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
I just had a look for some recent articles and can confirm it still seems to have a minimal effect, 10-50% is significant but I can only find in the region of 5% in some video work, and even then its only some software that benefits.

Re the 2nd point, I would say faster RAM is more important that running it in dual channel mode but I have not seen the figures for APU's with single and dual channels tested.

Ok thanks mantadog I have been doing some more looking myself and as you say the faster speed RAM seems to be giving the better performance boost and the RAM timings don't really make much difference now either if you compare a lower speed (Slower) RAM with the lower timings (Faster) with a higher speed (Faster) RAM and higher timings (Slower) the higher speed RAM is better wow how things are changing.
 

Glissov

Bronze Level Poster
I just had a look for some recent articles and can confirm it still seems to have a minimal effect, 10-50% is significant but I can only find in the region of 5% in some video work, and even then its only some software that benefits.

Re the 2nd point, I would say faster RAM is more important that running it in dual channel mode but I have not seen the figures for APU's with single and dual channels tested.

This only applies to APUs but:

Single channel: [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT9A6HStN5g"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT9A6HStN5g[/URL]

Dual channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT9A6HStN5g

Also, this test applies only to the AMD CPUs with integrated APU but I believe the same rule applies to intel too.
Performance in game fps varies between 20-50%.
This gain is also relevant in hardcore laptops as when gaming away from the power socket, optimus will favor integrated GPU over discrete.
 
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